Axial Wraith Online Build, Part 3

Axial Wraith Online Build, Part 3

Ah…nice to be back at the ol’ bench.  Step five finds us adding the finishing bits to the axles…

Step_5

Pull-nut_arrow

In step five, nuts are inserted into recesses in the shock/linkage mounts. Pushing the nuts in is a hassle; the easy way is to pull them in using a long screw. Rather than find a screw already in the kit, I made a tool so I would have it handy for future builds. I cut the head off a long screw from my box of spare bits and threaded it into a servo mount as a handle.

 

Axle_complete

OK, axles are done. The boxed supports really make ’em look tough!

 

Didnt_work

File this under “seemed like a good idea at the time.” I thought it would be cool to paint the diff covers but leave the Axial logo black. I used Silly Putty to fill in the logo, which worked great, except that oil from the Silly Putty was transferred to the rest of the cover during the mushing-in process and the paint fish-eyed like crazy. Next time, I’ll use Liquid Mask and be sure to wipe the cover down with alcohol before I paint it.

 

Step_7

On to the shocks…

 

Shock_explode

The shocks are a straightforward build. The seals go into the cartridge, the cartridge threads into the shock body, fill the body with oil, install bladder and cap then bleed. Note the titanium nitride-coated shock shafts and 1/8-scale-style nutted pistons. Much nicer than e-clips.

 

Shock_fluid

There is no chance whatsoever that you will run out of shock fluid while building the Wraith.

 

Step 19

I skipped ahead to the transmission…

 

TransmissioN_open

The transmission goes together particularly quickly, since there’s no differential to build. Just press the bearings in then slide the gears into place.

 

Transmission_with_plate

Here’s the completed gearbox. Note that the motor plate does not extent to fill the spur-gear area; instead, a plastic shroud protects the gear. Take a look at the output shaft at the bottom of the ‘box–I missed a bearing. facepalm

 

Step 21

Now for the slipper clutch…

 

Wraith_slipper

One pressure plate is keyed to the shaft, the other is bolted to the spur gear. The slipper pad itself is adhesive-backed and stuck to the outboard pressure plate.

 

Trans_plus_motor

Slip the spring and nut onto the top shaft, and the gearbox is ready for the motor. My Wraith will be the test bed for Novak’s new Crusher power system, which includes an 18.5 Ballistic Crawler motor when you go for the Crawling combo.

 

Trans_dig_box

For serious crawling, you can install Axial’s optional dig kit. I’m building my truck stock, so I’ll just bolt the cover into place.

GO TO PART 4

GO BACK TO PART 2

GO BACK TO PART 1

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Updated: September 30, 2018 — 6:39 PM
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